The basic structure of a time phrase in Chinese is: subject + time + verb phrase
Here are some examples of time phrases following the subject + time + verb phrase sentence pattern for time phrases in Chinese:
I have to go to work tomorrow: 我明天去上班 (wǒ míng tiān qù shàng bān).
Subject: 我 wǒ – I
Time: 明天 míng tiān – tomorrow
Verb phrase: 去上班 qù shàng bān – go to work
He returned home yesterday: 他昨天回家了 (tā zuó tiān huí jiā le)
Subject: 他tā – he
Time: 昨天 zuó tiān – yesterday
Verb Phrase: 回家了 huí jiā le - returned home
Today they bought a new car: 他们今天买了一辆新车 (tā men jīn tiān mǎi le yī liàng xīn chē)
Subject: 他们 (tā men) – they
Time: 今天 jīn tiān – today
Verb Phrase: 买了一辆新车 mǎi le yī liàng xīn chē – bought a new car
Date Order in Chinese
When talking about dates and times in Chinese the order must be stated from largest to smallest time measure: Year – Month – Day
Example: 2020年 (nián) 1月 (yuè) 31日 (rì) – 2020 January 31
Below you can find more Chinese Date and Time Vocabulary
Yesterday: 昨天 zuó tiān
Today: 今天 jīn tiān
Tomorrow: 明天 míng tiān
Year: 年 nián
Month: 月 yuè
Day: 日 rì
O’Clock: 点钟 diǎn zhōng
Morning: 早上 zǎo shang
Noon: 中午 zhōng wǔ
Afternoon: 下午 xià wǔ
Evening: 晚上 wǎn shang
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